Might As Well
by TomMaier
Summary: Raven's feeling down, so Beasyboy helps her get back up.


**Might As Well**

Raven was feeling more down than usual today. She'd spent her entire morning in her room meditating, until the thought of her own exhistance crossed her mind. She was a child not of love nor lust. She was nothing but a pawn. Sure, with her father now gone, and his control extinguished, she'd been feeling slightly better lately, but when it got right down to it, all she was created to be was a pawn.

She let out a deep sigh as the thoughts ran through her head. She remembered her childhood. The monks of Azarath shunning her, casting her dirty looks whenever she'd pass, all because of something she had no control over. All besides Azar, who'd taught her how to control her emotions to keep her powers stable. It was a lonely childhood, that's for sure. She sulked through the halls, dragging her feet as she walked, not bothering to float as she usually would.

Beast boy was in his room with two of his most prized posessions, his laptop, and his electric guitar. He'd always wanted to learn how to play, so one day, while the other Titans were away, he'd snuck down to the old music store and bought one. How did he pay for it? Well, the other Titans didn't need to know he'd found their Titan's funding account card.

He'd sat there, long and hard, deciding which guitar to get. He was stuck between a Music Man, or a Les Paul. Deciding in the cheapest option, and the fact that he was being rushed by the store owner, he'd chosen the Music Man.

Now, one of the downsides of his animal instincts is his ability to almost _smell_ emotion. He'd never told anyone, but he was as good at reading people as Raven was. If not, better. Once Raven passed his door, he knew it was her by the smell of tea and jasmine, he'd known something was up. Another secret he'd been keeping was his deep feelings for the empath. He'd wondered how she hadn't caught on yet. He knew she needed cheering up, but asking what was wrong would probably make things worse. As soon as he felt her pain, he'd hopped onto his laptop and looked for the right song to play for her. After scrolling and scrolling through the options, he'd found the right one.

Raven sat in the main room on their giant cresant shaped couch, reading as usual. No matter how many different books she'd tried reading, her thoughts from this morning wouldn't seem to leave her. With a groan, she slapped the pages of her book shut and began meditating again, repeating her mantra in silence. The doors of the room hissed open, and she felt her heart jump at the emotional signal given off. Each Titan had their own. Starfire's was warmth and kindness. Cyborg's was positivity, with a deep, almost unnoticable shame. She'd always wondered why. Robin's, a sense of pride and determination. Beastboy's, happiness and strangely, sadness. Over the years, she and he'd grown quite close, he'd shared his past with her and she'd been more open with him. She'd even felt herself grow to like him as much more than a simple friend.

She tried to ignore her fluttering heart and tightened her eyes shut to try to block out his presence. She was more confused when he'd left almost immediately after comming in, with nothing more than a heavy thump to let her know he was there. She'd almost opened her eyes, but he'd come back. A few clinking noises and a deep breath, the silence was broken.

"Raven?"

She looked up to see Beastboy standing before her, a purple Music Man Axis around his shoulders, and a radio next to his amplifier. The most surprising thing of all was the fact that he'd taken his gloves off. His hands were shaking slightly, and she knew why. She took a quick glance at his hands, gasping slightly at the sight of the scars that'd taken over the usually smooth skin of a hand.

"Beastboy-"

"Shush" he almost whispered, raising a finger to his mouth. "I know you've been a bit down today, so I figured I'd cheer you up. I know if I askd, you wouldn't accept it, so I just took charge" he said with a smile.

"When did-"

"Up-bup-bup" he said. "Don't pay attention to me, pay attention to the words. Close your eyes" he said with a nervous smile. He leaned over and pushed play on the radio. There was a deep synthesized note, followed by a few more upbeat chords of the synth. Then, she heard it, the first time she'd ever heard him play, and the first chord was beautiful. She had no idea which song this was, but she knew she liked it. He repeated the same few chord changes before the vocals came in.

_I get up! And nothing gets me down._

This was Beastboy all over. Not even she could ruin his good moods if she'd tried her hardest.

_You've got it tough! I've seen the toughest around._

It was true. For what they'd had to go through, and their rough childhoods, the Titans were the toughest, and they could take a beating too.

_And I know! Baby just how you feel_.

She blushed lightly at the _baby_. Beastboy did know how she felt, though, being shut out and ridiculed for his mutations.

_You've got to Ro-o-oll with the punches to get to what's real_.

All of the lyrics were coming together and making perfect sense. He understood her. He knew that sometimes, you've got to take what life gives you and make the best of it.

_Can't ya see me standin' here I've got my back against the wrecking machine?_

_-Guitar riff-_

_I ain't the worse that you've seen._

_-Guitar riff-_

_Why can't ya see what I mean?_

_-Guitar riff-_

_Might as well JUMP!_

_Go ahead and jump._

_Might as well JUMP!_

_Go ahead and jump._

_How old? Hey you! Who said that? Baby how've you been?_

Another blush, a bit deeper this time at the use of _baby_.

_You say you won't Kno-o-ow you won't know until you begin._

_Can't ya see me standin' here I've got my back against the wrecking machine?_

_-Guitar riff-_

_I ain't the worse that you've seen._

_-Guitar riff-_

_Why can't ya see what I mean?_

_-Guitar riff-_

_Might as well JUMP!_

_Go ahead and jump._

_Might as well JUMP!_

_Go ahead and jump._

_JUMP_

There was a high screech and Raven's eyes flew open. As Beasyboy made his was calmly through the solo, her mouth almost fit the floor when she'd seen his fingers flying aroung the neck of the guitar. She felt her eyes widen especially at the tapping technique used. (A/N: For those of you unfamiliar with Eddie Van Halen's style, Youtube Eruption on guitar). It dawned on her that he'd done all of this, learned this song, and mastered it, just because she was feeling down. As the synth was going into it's solo, she stood up and made her way over to him. Their eyes locked, speaking unspoken words and emotions. After a brief pause, she lept into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him with great strength. He paused for a moment, flashing back to the event with Malchior. Instead of pulling away this time, he embraced her as well, pouring his emotions into the hug. She leaned back, looking into his eyes.

"When did you learn to play like that?" she asked him in wonder, the song continued in the background. "The sound-the way you-the..." He began to chuckle slightly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Remember a few months ago when that two-hundred dollars went missing to Uncle Bucky's Lucky Music Shop? Well...Ta-da!" he said, gesturing to the musical equipment.A slight smirk crossed her lips.

"You did all this for...for me?" she asked nervously, blushing. "Why?" Her eyes suddenly found the floor to be very interesting.

Beastboy was at a crossroads of sorts. He could either tell her how he felt, and ruin the closeness of their friendship he'd put so much time working to build, or maybe, just maybe, she'd feel the same.

"Well, Rae, I did it because, well, I love you." Her eyes shot wide open and locked onto his. "I love you Raven. It hurts me knowing that you're down and I just wanted to help." He smiled down to her.

Raven was at a loss of words. She felt her mouth moving, but heard nothing coming out. _Is this is?_ she asked herself. _Is this that feeling I've read about in all of my books? The loss of speach? The fluttering heart?_ She felt a blush rise to her face. She looked up to him timidly. Slowly, almost unsurely, she raised to the tips of her toes, and kissed him on the cheek. As she backed away, he began blushing as well, leaning in to kiss her on the lips.

She immediately melted into the kiss, feeling a warm sensation sweep throughout her body. As he pulled away, she followed slightly, before breaking the kiss for some air. He stared at her for a moment.

"What?"

"...it's the ears...isn't it..."

"...shut up..."

**Hope you all like it. I don't own Jump. Van Halen owns that masterpiece. I never could, considering it was born before me.**


End file.
